Trickle Down Sequestration

The news outlets had been promoting the Sequester with a capital "S" for months. We had heard all about the draconian drama that was about to unfold before our eyes: Cuts, furloughs, closings, and more cuts. Yes, I was sure it was just another fire drill - until it affects you. And by "you" I mean me of course.

The FAA has been hacksawed into, which means fewer air traffic controllers, which means less air traffic control, which means less air traffic.

Homeland Security has been slashed as well. And while nobody is writing love songs about TSA agents, if their overtime gets cut and if they can't hire new personnel for a fairly high-turnover position, the process of airport security will be slowed down to a crawl.

If you make your living flying from place to place, this is very ominous. If you make your living connecting through a hub like Atlanta, O'Hare, or DFW, expect things to be a lot worse. Not only is the population exponentially higher than other airports, but double the headaches with the comings and goings of connecting flights.

So when I'm in ATL this coming Friday, on my 8th drink at Cafe Intermezzo, waiting and wondering how this all started, I thought I'd be sure what to tell my fellow refugees about why we're in this soup.

This is initially the Republicans' fault by ignorance, then the Democrats' fault for stupidity. The two are not the same.

In 2011, when the GOPs in Congress stubbornly blocked a perfunctory raise of the debt ceiling, all hell broke loose. Many of them did not know (or at least their constituents didn't) that the debt ceiling was there to pay off the country's standing debt, not raising the debt limit a la credit cards.

So a deal had to be brokered to keep the US in good financial standing. The Dems caved on a "sequestration" deal, which is what you see today with the massive cuts to essential programs. They never thought the Republicans would let it go into effect, which was a colossal miscalculation.

They thought this because the deal included major cuts in defense spending, a sacred cow on the right, while not cutting Social Security and Medicare, the equivalent on the left.

The problem is that hard-line military spending was the GOP platform of the neo-cons a decade ago, post 9/11. It's not the same in this decade, post-Tea Party. The party has transformed - now they'll cut anything and call it a win.

In the meantime hundreds of thousands of Americans will feel direct pain, and then so many more of us, like the business travelers will feel the residual effects. That's when this will reach a tipping point and Congress will have to act.

Something To Do List: Repticon

When you've got a 42-degree Sunday in Savannah, you don't want to be cooped up in the house with the kids watching TV and playing video games all day. So we found a good diversion: Repticon.

It's probably cheaper than a movie, somewhat educational, and entertaining - if you can brush off your annoyance when your son asks for your phone to take pictures of every snake in the place.

Repticon bills itself as a "Reptile and Exotic Pet Show." In addition to the countless snakes, there were turtles, geckos, bullfrogs, and alligators, just to name a few. It was a mini-zoo in a hotel conference center. And where else can your kids hold a tarantula?

And while these creepy, crawly creatures aren't things you want to see working their way across your living room floor, they are pretty cool when in their cages, handled by professionals.

And this is also a retail market for collectors. There was a pricetag on almost every one of these guys (or androgynous things) except for those "headliners" that were featured. It just so happens I'm in the market for a Komodo dragon, but couldn't find one.

Ole Missed Again?

It was a horrible, terrible, exceptionally bad day for SEC teams with NCAA Tournament hopes. Kentucky lost. Tennessee lost. Alabama lost. But Ole Miss may have sank.

The Rebels were a 12-point favorite at Mississippi State, who had lost 13 in a row. The Bulldogs' season had been marred by suspensions and injuries, and looked to be just playing out the string - except when it came to spoiling the hopes of their hated in-state rivals.

The ragtag Bulldogs held on behind a gutty effort and a boisterous crowd, and may have finished an Ole Miss season that once looked so promising.

As of this evening, esteemed ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi had only 2 SEC teams in. Florida still has a shot at a very high seed despite the performance of their conference as a whole. And Missouri (where I was today) solidified their position with a thorough win over surging LSU.

Lunardi has Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, and Ole Miss on the outside looking in. There's still time to play their ways in, but time is running out. If they hadn't noticed the calendar has already flipped to March. And the Ole Miss campus may not be experiencing the madness...again. They'll just be plain mad.

What's Another Number?

At my alma mater, Syracuse University, 44 is a magic number. It is Jim Bown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka. The city changed its zip code to include "44" and the student phone exchange prefixes begin with 44.

Today, this Syracuse grad turned 44 with very little fanfare. I was in Clemson and got a call from the kids in the morning, singing "You're growing old, you have gray hair...and dirty underwear."

I didn't tell any of my crew, and despite a couple of odes to me on Twitter and Facebook, nobody noticed. I don't make a big deal about other people's birthdays (or any of the Hallmark holidays) so I don't expect any well wishes in return. It's not the roadmap to a healthy relationship (or maybe it is, I'm still figuring that all out).

The last day of February is just another day on the calendar, or as I learned today, Dean Smith's birthday. But he's 82, much closer to the median age of a Fox News viewer than I.

I did spend my day in Clemson with a great lunch at The Esso Club and a late dinner at 356 Sushi. In between was a very mundane win for North Carolina over Clemson. It was a pretty typical day on the road and never felt like a special day.

It's just another day and another year removed from my youth, never more evident than on a stop-over on a fun college campus. And it's a number that reminds me I haven't changed the world in any meaningful way.

Biggie Smalls kicked in the door, wavin' the four-four. I went quietly into March 2013.

Savannah To Clemson: Drive Or Fly?

Clemson SC is a 4 hour and 15 minute drive from home. It is a tedious and boring drive, but it isn’t all that long in the scheme of things.

But today I opted for a different plan. I flew to Atlanta and drove 2 hours to Clemson from there. That doesn’t make much sense does it? Well here are the factors in making that call, a choice I’ve been making more and more lately.

Primarily it’s necessary for preparation. In my brief time between events, I often have the kids. I also have workouts to catch up on, and many TV shows to digest from the DVR. Add these past couple of weeks of surveying potential new SUVs, and you’re right up against it until it’s time to leave.

While the time at Savannah airport or on the plane isn’t plentiful, it is a chance to hit the books. There is no work you can get done in the car besides making phone calls.

The second and less important reason is every segment counts. It’s usually a motto I don’t employ until November/December, but why wait? Get to Platinum Medallion a little earlier and you don't have to make such hard choices.

Driving is for going home after the game when I’m all keyed-up on adrenaline and 5-Hour Energy, but alas I have to go from Clemson to Columbia, Missouri for a Saturday game. So it’s going to be a 2-hour drive back to Atlanta, a flight to St. Louis, and then a 90-minute drive to Mizzou. Then a 90-minute drive back before two flights home.

It’s like the worst of both worlds: The hard choices are the price for having made such a good career choice.

Enter Jackie Nevada

The DirecTV guide description of last week's Justified episode "Money Trap" pretty much says it all:

"Raylan finds himself caught between a foxy grifter and an old nemesis out for revenge..."

Just how Elmore Leonard drew it up. In fact, much of this particular hour was lifted from Raylan, the novel. It includes the long-awaited introduction of Jackie Nevada, the card-shark Butler grad whose sense for banter and nostalgia belies her years on this earth. Her character comes across better on paper than on the show, but it doesn't make her any less attractive.

Jackie is the daughter of professional poker player Reno Nevada, and was almost named "Sierra," which of course leads to some witty back-and-forth with Raylan. She's another one of Elmore Leonard's dark-haired pistols. After all, it was J Lo who played Karen Sisco in Out Of Sight. And it was the very underrated Carla Gugino who played Sisco in the short-lived TV series.

So Jackie is going to be the next one on the "merry-go-round" with Raylan, who seems to attract women with a certain moral flexibility and colorful vocabulary.

The other show-runner from the DirecTV description was the "old nemesis out for revenge." This storyline was so memorable from the book that I thought I had seen the first-run episode before.

Jody, a killer fugitive on the run, fresh off killing two bounty hunters, enlisted the help of a low-rent porn director to find the money he stashed (that Jackie Nevada ran off with), and take out Raylan in the process.

In fact Jody and Kenneth (Kennet') make a sharply-produced video to call out Raylan, who watched it with wide eyes. Raylan and Jody  have their showdown in Raylan's home bar and Raylan pumps him full of bullets.

Jackie of course happens upon the scene while Raylan's gun is still smoking, and of course it doesn't faze her. This sort of action plays better in the book, but it's all very true to the author's vision.

Wishy Washy: February 2013

I thought when we moved to Savannah, we could throw Seasonal Affected Disorder out the window. February 2013 hasn't been particularly cold, but the weather's been dreary at best. And when you're home only 3-5 days at a time, you don't want to waste your time in the dreariness.

Only Happy When It Rains was a 1995 grunge-era anthem from the Madison, Wisconsin based band Garbage. It really encapsulates weather and moods:

"You know I love it when the news is bad."

"I only listen to sad, sad songs."

"I only smile in the dark."

"Pour your misery down on me."

So rain is popular in some circles. I love watching summer thunderstorms from my porch, and I know my lawn appreciates a good drenching.

But last week and this week, I'm trying to get the kids some exercise - they looked so miserable sitting at car riders in their raincoats. And more importantly I'm trying to shop for the next family roadster.

How do car dealers sell on days like this when customers are sloshing through puddles? Who wants to go out and kick tires or look at interiors or go on test-drives, much less spend money on a day like today...or tomorrow? Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be rain.